Don't Settle for Less Than the Best
by LordCapulet
Summary: Oneshot. Raven is awoken in the night to find Beast Boy in great emotional pain. How will the empath help her changeling friend? BBRae


This takes place shortly after running into the Terra look-alike sometime after Trigon was defeated.

Auhors note: I don't own Teen Titans.

Raven tossed and turned in her bed, restless in her sleep. No, it wasn't that her mind was restless, but rather someones else was, and as a strong empath, she was picking up on all the excess emotions rolling around her even in her sleep. A sudden spike in all the emotion caused he rto bolt upright in bed and gasp.

'This is too much emotion. What in Azar's name is going on around here?,' she thought.

Taking a moment to calm herself and say her mantra a few times she began to reach out with her powers to check on her friends. Cyborg and Star were sleeping soundly, Robin was asleep too, but was giving off angst. No surprise there. What caught her off guard, though, was that the anger, depression, hurt, and confusion that was almost suffocating her was comign from the roof. What was even more shocking was that at the center of the emotional storm was Beast Boy. The simplest, happiest member of the team.

'I know that we ran into that Terra look alike today, but he's seemed fine up until now...' thought the confused and worried girl. Normally she would just go back to sleep, but this level of emotion...another sharp spike of anger made up her mind. Grabbing her cloak and putting it on she swiftly teleported up to the rooftop, where the back of her green team mate loomed.

'When did his shoulders get so wide?' she idly thought before remembering why she was there in the first place.

"Beast Boy?" she called out tentatively. "Are you alright?"

She got no response from the changeling. After a few moments of heavy silence she moved beside him and sat down next to him. He didn't even look at her. Just when she was about to say something again, he sighed heavily. It was a sigh of a person weary of the world; the sigh did not belong on the lips of her bright and, if she were being totally honest, quite sweet, friend.

When he spoke, it was with a voice more mature than Beast Boy seemed capable of. "I miss my parents, Rae. This is the anniversary of their death."

B.B's answer shocked her. Out of all the things she thought he might say, this was not even remotely close to what she assumed it was he was thinking of. Beast Boy _never _talked about his past. Not that any of the Titans were forthcoming with their lives, but Beast Boy seemed particularly tight lipped about that subject.

When it became clear to him that he had shocked her so much that she had nothing to say, he elaborated more. "They...they were killed by the animals they wanted to research and protect. Being all these animals...it makes me feel guilty. Like I'm betraying them somehow, Rae." Here he finally looked at her, and his face nearly broke the empaths stoic hear. It was the most sorrowful look she had ever seen. His eyes were read from having cried recently. She look ed into his eyes and grabbed his hand, giving it a comforting squeeze.

"Beast Boy, you're an amazing hero. You help people every single day. I'm sure your parents couldn't be more proud of you. You were given a gift. I'm sure they don't think you've betrayed them at all."

They stayed like that for who knows how long. Minutes, hours, an eternity, they had no idea. Finally, a smile crept back onto Beast Boy's face. A genuine smile of happiness, and not one of the goofy grins he usually gave everyone.

"Thanks Rae. That means the world to me," he whispered.

"Of Course, Beast Boy."

"Call me Garfield. Or Gar."

"...Ok, but only if you'll call me Rachel. It's my real name, Gar."

"I think I can do that, Rae. There, Rae can be short for Rachel, too, but you'll know that I mean Rachel instead of Raven. It'll be our little secret," he exclaimed excitedly.

They sat for a few more moments in comfortable silence before Raven broke it.

"You know, I really thought that you would be upset about Terra. In fact, with all the anger and hurt I felt...I really thought you were goung to hurt yourself. I was worried about you."

A pained look came across his face, but was shortly replaced by one of peace.

"Rae, she hurt me, not in the way you guys think. I settled for her instead of the girl I really love because I was always sure she would never even glance at me. I'm loud, obnoxious, and I'm green for crying out loud! But then I found Terra. I thought she could accept me, so I went with her, and she was cute, and I liked her, and I did think of her as a great friend, which made her betrayal hurt a lot. The truth is...Rachel, I have loved you since I met you, and I finally have the courage to say it!" he ended his short speech by putting his hand, without its glove, on her face and looking deep into the purple eyes he thought were the most beautiful in the world.

Raven's heart sped up til she could swear it was a drum in her chest. She pulled back, fightened. Any second now, her powers would catch up to her emotions and break something, or worse, hurt the boy who finally told her he liked her back...but nothing happened.

Finally, she spoke. "Gar, I'm a demoness. I can't really show love or affection or any emotion. You know that. I'm...I'm..." and here she faltered because he put his hands on her hips and-gods they felt warm and safe pressed against her like that-spoke to him.

"Rae, you don't have to _show_ your emotions to me. I've always been able to see how you feel in your eyes. And if you're a demoness, you can have my soul. because you've already taken my heart." Without anymore warning, Gar moved in and tenderly kissed the lips of the woman he had fallen in love with. Dark energy fluttered in the air and caused a few cracks to the building, but nothing more.

"...I love you, too, Gar. You've always been a pain in my neck, but you've always tried to include me, and you've always genuinely cared about me, and after Malchior, I knew how I felt about you."

Rachel rested her head on Garfield's chest and he wrapped his arms around her for a few moments until she warped them to her bed, where they slept soundly, holding one another and smiling even in their sleep.

A.N. Hey guys. This is my first fanfic, and It was written when I was a bit tipsy, and it was quite late. Or early depending on how you look at it. Well anyways, I saw an episode of Titans recently and had been reading some bbrae fanfics and was just spurred by inspiration. I'd like to maybe make this into a larger story, but only if it's liked by others, so please read and review.

Thank you. Peace out.


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